"Every sector of the travel industry will be up, up, up,
this summer," says Suzanne Cook of the Travel Industry
Association of America. "The momentum in travel recovery that
began last year is continuing, and Americans are traveling in
record numbers."

That's great news for the travel industry, but not for
companies trying to control travel costs--higher demand means
higher prices. Car rental rates are up an average of 10 percent to
15 percent over last year. Hotel prices in many major cities are
skyrocketing, and hotels are regularly selling out in super-hot
markets like Boston and Manhattan. Recently imposed fuel surcharges
are bumping up airfares. Even airport parking rates are on the
rise.

Since small businesses usually don't have the volume to
negotiate lower prices, finding travel deals is tough. And when
they do find deals, travelers get bogged down in the fine print or
have to jump through too many hoops to realize true savings.

That could be changing. For example, Budget Rent A Car just
announced a simple offer to small and midsize businesses that rent
cars at least once per month or spend at least $1,000 per year on
car rentals: Those companies that enroll in the Budget Business
program get an additional discount on Budget's lowest rates on
all car classes. They also receive a $2 rebate for every day an
employee rents a Budget car. A company with five travelers who rent
cars five days per month would earn back $600 a year from the
rebates alone! Members also get no additional driver fees,
unlimited mileage, and complimentary Rapid Return and Fastbreak
(express, paperless rental) services. For more information, see
www.budget.com,
and click on "Frequent Renter."

Hoping to snare more price-sensitive travelers from small and
midsize businesses, Delta introduced Simpli-Fares earlier this
year. With SimpliFares, Delta dumped the onerous Saturday-night
stay-over rule, cut ticket change fees from $100 to $50, and capped
its one-way walk-up fares at $500 (coach) and $600 (first-class).
See www.delta.com/simplifares for more information.